The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route was one of the most unique experiences I've ever had in Japan - it was traversing a mountain that receives one of the largest amounts of snowfall in the world. So much so, that the route remains closed for the entire winter, and half of autumn and spring. To open the route for spring, a large trough is dug into the snow, which when we went surpassed 19 meters in depth!
That alone should qualify its uniqueness, however, the Japanese have made it a bit more 'fun' by adding numerous routes of transportation to cross the pass.
We began our journey from Uozu, famous for its bioluminescent squid (which unfortunately we did not see), taking a train to Toyama, then another train to Tateyama station, then a cable car, a 'highland bus', crossing the pass by foot, an indoor electric bus, a 1.7 km long funicular that was entirely free of support towers(!), another cable car, and finally another indoor electric bus. Further complicating this was that we had ended up in Japan during Golden Week, quite possibly the very busiest time for domestic tourism.
It was an unforgettable experience, and despite the complexity, it all proceeded like clockwork, and I wouldn't have expected anything less from the Japanese.
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